The Malay People

Migration across the Pacific1000 B.C.E. – 1200 C.E.

By: Katie Zheng, Naveena Karusala,

and Amanda Richards

Migrations began in 4000 BC near Taiwan and reached New Zealand by 1250 AD.

Near Oceania- cultural diffusion led to the Lapita people.Bright spots indicate last three and most difficult migrations in the Pacific.

Migrators brought the gourd (used to make containers) and sweet potatoes (source of nutrition) to New Zealand.

Cultural impact of Malay migration- undecorated plainware, pottery.

Modern replications of double hulled voyaging canoes- made navigation and settlement possible.

Used knowledge of the winds to travel against the wind to easily return back with it.

Cultural impact- monumental religious structures called moai, central cultural focus

Impact: Pacific IslandsPolitical:

The Pacific Islands were virtually untouched before the advent of the Malay migrants, who established small colonies.

These colonies were run by leaders sort of like chieftains, but were often vacated in the quest for other colonies.

In New Zealand, some colonies settled after traveling from West Polynesia and stayed. These people became known as the Maori and are present in New Zealand to this day.

Intellectual Innovation:Several sailing techniques

were created, such as: -Against the wind: search and return voyages in which the travelers searched for habitable islands and returned to their original colonies. -Across the wind: voyages in which the travelers made note of the islands in case they could not sail directly home. -Downwind: voyages in which the travelers had to take circuitous, differing routes to return and discover intermediate islands—this was the most difficult because navigators had to understand different weather systems.

Religion: In New Zealand, the Maori

people introduced a new religion, which consisted of a belief in “mana,” which was a magic presence in all things, manmade and natural.

Their predecessors and the original Malay migrants, the Lapita, were polytheistic with no real organized religion.

Art/Architecture:The Lapita are known for

their intricate pottery, which has stylized faces on it. This pottery later became Polynesian plainware.

Jewelry made out of shells was also popular in Lapita culture, as was pottery made out of obsidian rock.

To this day, jewelry and dances probably created in the Lapita culture exist in Maori culture.

The Easter Island heads were created by the Polynesian people.

Technology:The Lapita people used some

revolutionary technologies in their time, such as bronze metallurgy, canoe building, and stone tools. While they did know how to use bronze, they did not use it for tools simply because there was not very much bronze where they lived.

The canoes they built were very important because these allowed them to transverse the Pacific and colonize many islands. The basic design of this canoe did not change for a very long time.

To this day, it is a mystery as to how these people navigated to other islands—they had no maps or other navigational devices.

Economy:The societies established by the

Polynesian and the Lapita (who were the Polynesian people’s ancestors) were largely based on agriculture. They grew yams, taros, and bananas, as well as breadfruit.

They also had large livestock and flightless birds as sources of meat.

The Lapita established intricate trade networks all throughout Oceania, through which they obtained different commodities and spread their own art and agriculture.

Society:The Lapita had hierarchical, hereditary

chiefdoms, in which the chief’s son was the next leader of the tribe. The Maori similarly have a kinship-based chiefdom system. 500 people or so of common descent form one tribe, and they sometimes band with other tribes that have similar ancestry to overcome threats.

Nonetheless, every tribe is an independent and different social unit, and every tribe is self-sufficient.

Impact: East AsiaPolitical:

New evidence suggests that the Polynesian migration originated in Taiwan, due to similarities in mitochondrial DNA between the Taiwanese aborigines and the Polynesian people.

In Taiwanese aboriginal groups today, patrilineal chiefdoms are generally the governmental structure, something that largely resembles the Lapita people of the Pacific Islands.

Intellectual Innovations:The Polynesian people are

supposed to have radiated out from Taiwan according to one of three theories: -Express-train: In this theory, the people traveled from Taiwan to Melanasia and directly from there on to many other Polynesian countries. -Entangled bank: The people integrated themselves into the cultural and genetic identity of many places, eventually spreading to Polynesia. -Slow boat: Similar to the express-train idea, but a longer stay in Melanasia.

Very sophisticated astronomy was present during this period.

Religion:A largely pantheistic

religion is practiced by most Taiwanese aborigines, something that resembles the Lapita people’s polytheistic religion.

Shamanism was also popular in this time, as was ancestor worship.

Art/Architecture:The Taiwanese aborigines

practice ritual tattooing.However, their architecture

was typically very humble and small, focusing on utility rather than appearance.

This is similar to the humble architecture of the Lapita.

Technology:Balsam log canoes are a theory

proposed by one archaeologist by the name of Thor Heyerdahl concerning the Polynesian migration.

Most of the Polynesian people use the same language, which has very few similarities with the Taiwanese languages.

Economy:Largely a trade and barter system,

though there is very little communication between the tribes, similar to the Lapita people.

Society:The tribes of Taiwan, like their

counterparts in the Lapita, are chiefdoms in which the men and women are largely equal. However, these societies are patrilineal.

ChronologyFirst millennium B.C.E. – Malay immigrants begin to move into Southeast Asia. They arrive in a simple yet effective canoe known as an outrigger canoe. 700 B.C.E. – Dongson-style pottery begins to show up in New Guinea. This suggests that Malay peoples have already begun settling in places like Malaysia and Brunei at this time. 500 B.C.E. – By the time of the Bronze Age, the Malay Peninsula has become a center for maritime trade. It is an important area for seafarers from around Asia and even as far away as Egypt. 420 B.C.E. – This is the earliest indication of human presence in Tonga, though people probably arrived even earlier. 200 B.C.E. – Malay people from Southeast Asia introduce the long knife as they migrate to the Philippines and Indonesia. They also bring their expertise in fighting with daggers, spears, and bows. 200 B.C.E.-1000 C.E. – During the Iron Age, artistry develops, becoming especially important in the Philippines. Jewelry and body tattooing are two major developments. 100 B.C.E. – The Malay have reached the Marquesas despite its relative inaccessibility.

Chronology Continued1 C.E. – In the Philippines, Malay peoples display their skill in engineering by carving mountains into terraces that could be used to grow rice. 200-300 C.E. – Malay kingdoms appear on the Malay Peninsula, though the area does not have plains extensive or fertile enough to support a dense population.500 C.E. – By this point, the Malay have migrated as far as Japan, Hawaii, Easter Island, and Madagascar. The Malay plants, animals, language, and music that have shown up in these new areas evidence their arrival. 682 C.E. – The first Malay text, known as the Kedukan Bukit Inscription, is written. Its language displays similarities to the Pallava (dynasty of Southern India) language family. 800 C.E. – Seafarers make the long journey to New Zealand and colonize it.First millennium C.E. – Malay sultanates arrive and initiate trade with the Orang Asli, a group of people native to Peninsular Malaysia. The Malays’ arrival forced the Orang Asli to move further inland to continue their isolated practices. 1000-1200 C.E. – During the Porcelain Age, trade flourishes between the Malay and China, India, and Arabia. Naturally, one of the major goods that is traded during this time is porcelain.

ComparisonsIn both East Asia and the Pacific Islands, the basic political structure was a chiefdom, which was largely patrilineal in nature.Sophisticated navigation techniques were developed in the interest of exploration.While the East Asian Polynesian peoples were pantheistic and believed in shamanism, the Pacific Islanders believe in a sort of magic present in all human beings.While the East Asian and Pacific Island architecture is very similar, there are some differences, such as the emphasis on body art in East Asia and the emphasis on jewelry in the Pacific Islands. This probably stemmed from cultural changes that took place because of location.Both East Asian and the Pacific Island Polynesians were focused on navigational and seafaring technology, such as canoes.In both cultures, there is an emphasis on agriculture and trade—however, the trade in the Pacific Islands was more widespread and varied, due to the fact that there were more islands and therefore more variety in the Pacific Islands than there were places in East Asia.Self-sufficient tribes that had some separation but could band together in the face of a mutual threat were the norm.

Change over TimeTravel around Polynesia and South Asia required great skill with maritime technology. This began with the Malays’ sturdy outrigger canoes that were used to reach Southeast Asia. Gradually, this involved into great navigational technology that allowed the Malays to travel longer distances. It also became useful in maritime trade. In the Bismark Archipelago, a form of pottery known as Lapita Ware developed. It spread to other areas such as New Caledonia, Fiji, and Samoa along with many other features of Polynesian culture. However, the pottery disappeared by the time New Zealand was discovered, and replaced with other crafts such as fish hooks and stone crafts. Around 500 B.C. bronze became prominent in Vietnam in the form of large, decorative drums. Bronze also had other metallurgical uses in the area. To the northwest, similar drums developed in China; however, the Chinese came to build even more elaborate drums as well as containers for cowrie shells, expanding upon the role of bronze in their culture. Interaction with Indian traders along maritime trade routes introduced the Malays to Indian religions and ideas. After many centuries, these Indian traditions had become a part of Malay culture and politics.

Present Day Malay Populations

Major Malay Islands Population according to 2010 census

Indonesia 242,968,342

Malaysia 28,274,729

Philippines 99,900,177

Singapore 4,701,069

Papua New Guinea 6,064,515

Role in Modern DayThe descendents of original Malay people now make up the citizens of more than 1000 islands in the Pacific, including mainland Australia, New Zealand, and Hawaii. The Malay culture has split into different sectors, including Polynesia, Micronesia, and Melanesia. Historic Malay cultural aspects, such as the Moai (statues in Easter Island), textile work, wood carvings, and Aboriginal rock art, is the basis of attraction for modern day tourism. The people of modern day Polynesia and surrounding islands are heavily influenced by outside cultures, so it is prone to cultural fluctuation. Numerous Pacific islands have been used for military bases by other nations such as the US, UK, and Germany, notably during World War II.The Malay people have been the subject of many studies of mitochondrial DNA lineages in order to determine the original population of the migrating people, considering there is a very small literature base for population records.

The RolesKatie Zheng:

Part 1: Spread/impact of Malay people on regionsPart 4: Comparisons

Naveena Karusala:Part 3: Maps, charts, or imagesPart 5: Role of the Malay people in today’s world

Amanda Richards:Part 2: ChronologyPart 4: Change over time